Load-bearing vest-style garments are commonly worn by military and police personnel so that they may carry equipment such as tools, radios, truncheons, small weaponry, handcuffs, mace or taser devices and anti-ballistic protection panels. It can be appreciated that garments of this type therefore tend to be bulky and heavy when loaded, and may restrict the movement of the wearer. A recognized requirement can be therefore to be able to ditch these vests with minimal delay, for example, in an emergency situation such as a crash-landing helicopter or in order to be rescued from a damaged vehicle or other entrapment situation.
A known approach to providing for quick release of load-bearing vest-style garments can include a separate set of rapid release linking devices in the garments. Typically, donning and securing of these garments under normal conditions can involve manual engagement of a number of Velcro (hook and loop) primary fasteners at or adjacent the waist and adjacent each shoulder. Normal doffing of the garment simply typically requires disengagement of the primary fasteners. A separate set of linking elements can be associated with either the hook or the loop component of the primary fasteners for effecting quick release of the garment from the wearer's body.
For example, International Patent Publication No. WO 2008/108856 describes an anti-ballistic vest garment having a quick release mechanism. The front panel of the garment is attached to side interface panels by respective sets of interleaved loops joined by respective cables. The cables meet in end loops at the centre bottom of the garment and pass up the respective sides and along the top of the front panel. The end loops provides handles by which the wearer can simultaneously pull both cables out of the interleaved loops, whereupon the garment drops off the wearer.
In the arrangement described in U.S. Published Patent Application No. 2007/0107109, a garment can be made from a number of panel components drawn together at a central location in the garment and attached using aligned eyelets, a common loop pulled through the eyelets and a single pull cord threaded through the loop. In this case, the single cord can be pulled to release multiple garment components simultaneously.
These systems relying on a single draw cable may be effective in causing substantially simultaneous separation of multiple garment components and therefore the rapid release of the garment from the wearer's body. However, in many of the instances where quick release of the garment is desired, it can be equally preferred that the garment is subsequently easily and quickly reinstated to the wearer's body. Such instances can include, e.g., scrambling through a narrow opening when on patrol, escaping from a helicopter or vehicle, entering a damaged vehicle to retrieve an injured or trapped soldier, and climbing up a wall or other structure. Indeed, it may be imperative in some cases that a soldier is able to rapidly redeploy the garment in order to continue the mission, or for their own safety. The prior arrangements that rely on a single draw cable or cord extending through multiple loops or eyes in the garment cannot be easily reassembled on the wearer's body and can require a tedious process of re-threading the cable or cord through all of the loops or eyelets in the correct order.
In order to more readily facilitate reassembly of a protective vest subsequent to removal, International Patent Publication No. WO 2007/146810 describes an arrangement in which one or more Velcro (hook and loop) or snap link fastener strips are arranged adjacent respective zipper/buckle fastenings. The arrangement is such that the or both fastener strips can be very quickly separated by a single motion that pulls apart the vest collars: the garment is fully opened for removal but does not drop off. In effect, this approach entails opening of the garment, rather than its complete dropping away from the body, as a compromise in order to allow more rapid re-closure.
It is an object of the present disclosure to provide for quick release of a garment such as a load-bearing vest in a manner that facilitates quick redeployment of the garment.
Reference to any prior art in the specification is not, and should not be taken as, an acknowledgment or any form of suggestion that this prior art forms part of the common general knowledge or that this prior art could reasonably be expected to be ascertained, understood and regarded as relevant by a person skilled in the art.